Birth By Sleep Project
by 0010101
Summary: Ventus sets out from his home in The Land Of Departure to look for Terra, before it's too late. However, he finds a mysterious girl floating aimlessly in the space between worlds. Who is she exactly? (Rated T, for strong language in most chapters)
1. Prologue

_**A/N:** For those of you struggling to imagine what Lan looks like, please refer to my profile._

* * *

"_Better hurry, Ventus..."_

"_Or you'll never see Terra again."_

⠀⠀ A young armored boy flies forward on his keyblade glider with purpose. Those words linger in his mind like an ink stain. Despite not knowing much about this boy in a mask, he can't help but feel as though that his words foretell a future Ventus can't bear to live in. What will happen to Terra? What does he mean that he'll turn into a different person? Terra can't disappear forever, he's too important.

⠀⠀ Although the boy was focused on looking for a world to begin his search for the Earth warrior, he noticed a rather unusual sight. A girl floating in The Lanes Between. She wasn't wearing anything to protect her from the forces of the space amidst the varying worlds, but she seemed completely fine. She was upside down, legs bent with her knees together and a fair distance away from her torso. Her arms were crossed, making it seem as though she's frustrated with her predicament.

⠀⠀ Intrigued, Ventus slowed down and approached the girl with many questions in his head that he'd hoped to get answered, but knows that only some of them would get answers. How is she fine wearing nothing in the space between worlds? How'd she get here? Who is she?

⠀⠀ Upon closer inspection, He saw that her long hair was brown. Her clothes were pretty peculiar, having skin-tight clothing. Her legs were covered from her feet all the way up to her upper thighs. They were white and faded into a grey as they reached lower to her feet. The top of these boot/stocking hybrid had a thick yellow trimming. Her arm warmers followed the same design, reaching up to her triceps. She seemed to be wearing a one-piece bathing suit that was mostly white, but also had a faint grey gradient to it, similar to her arm and leg pieces. Her ears were covered in headphones that had a yellow screen on each phone. Her belt had two pieces of flexible plastic appendages that stemmed from each hip. They were yellow and opaque. There were two discs placed on top of the belt where the two plastic appendages hang from. Like the appendages, they were yellow and opaque, but this seemed to be made of a more harder texture.

⠀⠀ The girl seemed to have noticed Ventus approaching her so she quickly turned her head to see what was approaching her, which prompted them both to gasp in shock.

⠀⠀ "Aw, cool! Where'd you get that?" The girl was the first to speak, clearly, she sees this as more casual than Ventus. In fact, he was so shocked at her casual attitude he forgot what he initially wanted to ask.

⠀⠀ "Um… It's my way of transport between the worlds." He hesitated in mustering up an answer, since he is aware of the world order and knows that it's important. However, since this girl is already out here, with the many worlds in plain sight, he hopes that this one exception would be fine.

⠀⠀ "Worlds? There's more than one world?" She unfolded her arms and placed her hands on her hip. Her legs are now straightened and put apart, making her slowly rotate upright.

⠀⠀ Ventus low-key hoped that she'd be aware that there's more than one world, she is out here and all, but he isn't entirely surprised that she didn't know. That is the whole point in the world order after all.

⠀⠀ "Yeah, there is. How'd you get out here?" He asked.

⠀⠀ At this point, she was upright, but was still somewhat rotating, "Well, there's this big evil douchebag that was doing something, and when I went out to go investigate, I got blasted out all the way over here."

⠀⠀ The boy found her response humorous, but since he didn't really know what was going on entirely, he just smiled softly under his helmet, "Wow, that must've been a pretty hard hit, how are you okay?"

⠀⠀ The girl put on a pretty cheeky expression, "Well, obviously that's 'cuz I'm not human."

⠀⠀ _Oh…_ Ventus felt a little stupid that he didn't make that observation at first. It was obvious, a girl perfectly fine in space. With no protection whatsoever. That would explain things.

⠀⠀ "Oh… Right…" He laughs nervously. Ventus suddenly remembers about his mission to find Terra and the weight that he's on a time limit makes him want to dash out of here and into the first world he finds. But, he can't just leave this girl floating in the space between worlds. He knows that she didn't get here on her own merit, so he wants to help somehow. He smiles brightly after he makes the realization that he can take this girl back to her world and try to go look for Terra in the same time.

⠀⠀ "Hey, your world can't be too far away from here. I'll help you get back."

⠀⠀ "You will? Aw, thanks!" She lunges over and boldly hugs him. He lets out a 'whoa' under his breath and tries to regain balance on his keyblade glider. She quickly lets him go and looks around.

⠀⠀ "Uh, I don't really see it close by…" She puts her hand on her hips again and her legs are bent, this time her feet positioned behind her.

⠀⠀ "Then… Let's just go check out the world nearby here, it's bound to be yours."

⠀⠀ "Okay, man… You're the guy with the cool space hoverboard, so you can call the shots. Oh! I can't just let you do this for me and not do anything in return. What's something I can do to repay you?"

⠀⠀ "Oh, repay me? That won't be necessary, it's really no biggie, I swear."

⠀⠀ "Uh, helping me get back home is a pretty big deal to me! If you hadn't swung by, I'd just be stuck here in space!"

⠀⠀ "Huh, good point… Well, I'm looking for a guy. He's like way tall and is kind of dressed like me, well… I'll explain more once we land."

⠀⠀ "Ah, looking for someone, eh? Well… I'm kind of looking for someone too, in fact, I'm lookin' for several people."

⠀⠀ "Great, then we can look for the people we're looking for together."

⠀⠀ "Yeah… Sounds like a great idea to me. Well, it's basically the only option I got, so."

⠀⠀ Ventus lets out a laugh this time, her quirkiness is starting to grow on him.

⠀⠀ "Alright." She goes over and gets a good grip on the side of Ventus' keyblade glider, "Onward!"

⠀⠀ "Onward!" Ventus made his glider jet onward and the stars zipped passed them as the vague shape of a world is seen in the distance. At first, Ventus was pretty anxious about the seemingly doomed fate that was to befall Terra. However, the energy that was being emitted from this girl was pretty contagious and lifted his spirits from the heaviness of his current situation. Of course, he knew it was important, but having company in this quest made him feel better.

⠀⠀ "Hey, what's your name anyway? I'm Ventus, by the way, but you can call me Ven"

⠀⠀ "Lan Chia."


	2. Chapter I: Dwarf Woodlands

⠀⠀⠀ Ventus and Lan arrive in front of a world that was a grassy sphere with a river splitting it in the center in curves. On the top was a cottage and a couple trees. Peeking out from the side seemed to be a mine filled with diamonds and creeping on the bottom was a dark forest.

⠀⠀⠀ "Is this your world?"

⠀⠀⠀ "Uh, I don't think so… Well actually. If this is what the exterior of the worlds looks like, then I don't really know what mine looks like."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus nodded. He's not surprised since this seems to be Lan's first time out here and she did just find out there's more than one world out there, so.

⠀⠀⠀She continued, "Well, I feel like the people I'm looking for might've landed in these worlds so, maybe I should do that first before I actually get back."

⠀⠀⠀"Sounds good to me." The boy made his keyblade glider enter the world.

* * *

⠀⠀⠀Once they've landed on a mountainside, Ventus removed his armor with his fist bumping his shoulder. Underneath the armor was a rather young boy with messy blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. His clothes consisted of a grey and white palette. Some of his armor remained on one of his shoulders, adding mellow greens and silvers to his colors.

⠀⠀⠀This was the first time Lan has seen the blonde underneath his armor. She looked at him and circled around him like a curious child inspecting a creature she's never seen before. He felt pretty weird that she was looking at him like that. Like, did he really look that weird to her? He thinks she's dressed strangely, but that didn't make him circle around her like she's a lab monkey.

⠀⠀⠀"Uh… What's wrong?" He began hugging himself, a meek attempt in trying to hide himself from her intrusive stares. She finally stopped circling around him and looked him straight in the eye, making him feel weirdly nervous.

⠀⠀⠀"You look familiar… Like I've seen fanart of you on the internet."

⠀⠀⠀ "What?"

⠀⠀⠀Ventus wasn't able to ponder any longer about the foreign words that came out of Lan's lips as his attention was shifted to the little men that were marching bellow the overpass they were standing on. He walks over to get a better look which prompted the brunette to become curious too.

⠀⠀⠀She gasped upon seeing them, "Oh my god."

⠀⠀⠀The boy turned his head to Lan, curious about her reaction, "What is it?"

⠀⠀⠀"Are those… The seven dwarfs? From that one Disney movie? Are we in a Disney movie? Everything here looks like we're in a cel sheet."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus was even more confused now. She keeps saying words he's never heard of before. It makes his mind linger in a lesson Master Eraqus taught him long ago. This one was about the responsibilities on being a keyblade bearer and, when visiting other worlds, the people may speak a similar language as him. But their dialect may be very different and even have a whole lot of new words invented for that one world. If he truly wanted to explore the worlds, he must be aware of this and respect the way of speech others may have in their worlds. He figured that Lan was one of those people the lesson was talking about. Although he was curious as to what each of those unknown words were, he at least knows he can communicate with Lan with no problems. So, he suspected that these words are quite meaningless.

⠀⠀⠀The blonde notices the little men enter a mine. He figured that he would ask these small men if they've seen Terra or not.

⠀⠀⠀ "C'mon, let's go ask them if they've seen anyone we're looking for." The young boy jumps down off the overpass and onto the path the little men took.

⠀⠀⠀ The girl hesitated to jump down with him, "Woah, you're just gonna barge in there and talk to them?"

⠀⠀⠀He look up at her with a slightly puzzling look, "Well, yeah. How else are we gonna find out where our friends are?"

⠀⠀⠀"Eh heh, so you don't really see them as Oscar Award winners…"

⠀⠀⠀"They've won awards?"—Ventus looks over at the entrance of the mineshaft—"How can you tell just by looking at them?"

⠀⠀⠀There was a silence between them. Brief, but still awkward.

⠀⠀⠀"Ven."

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah?"

⠀⠀⠀"If I ever say anything that confuses you, just… don't worry about it."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay." The blonde was a bit relieved that his initial idea on these words being meaningless were correct. Although, it did make him wonder if she can read his mind. She isn't human after all, so he figured that it isn't a stretch to think that she has wacky powers like mind reading.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, if you really want to. We can go and ask. I guess." The brunette jumps down from the overpass and joins Ventus on the path. They were taking a relaxing walk down the path, until Floods popped out of the ground and stopped them in their tracks. They both stopped in their tracks. Lan slightly surprised, but Ventus knew exactly what was going on. He summoned his keyblade and readied himself in his usual fighting stance.

⠀⠀⠀"Stand back!"

⠀⠀⠀Lan did the opposite of what Ventus told her to do and kicked one of the Floods. The others jumped up to attack her, but she summoned a large treble clef that glowed yellow and swung it like a sword. The contact with her strange-looking sword made the creatures disappear into thin air, but even more Unversed popped into existence right in front of them. (Scrappers and Red Hot Chilis to specific.)

⠀⠀⠀"Woah, what the—" Lan was definitely surprised at this point, but Ventus kept his guard up and attacked the Unversed that appeared. The long-haired brunette got over her shock rather quickly wasted little time to join Ventus in the monster slaying. After the effortless battle, the young boy smiled at the girl, impressed.

⠀⠀⠀"You've got guts."

⠀⠀⠀"Well… I've fought things like the little guys that showed up at first back in my world. So, I'm no stranger in taking out a couple of teeth or two."

⠀⠀⠀"Cool."

⠀⠀⠀Both of their weapons vanish for their convenience and they continue to walk towards the mine entrance. Ventus made a mental note, on how similar the two of them are in terms of combat. He wasn't able to see Lan's combat style, but it seemed like their weapons worked similarly. He didn't think it was a Keyblade. Whatever Lan was using in the fight did have a familiar shape to it. He's seen that shape before on music sheets he finds when shifting through the library in The Land of Departure. Ventus isn't a virtuoso or anything, but he still enjoys music. He can't play any instruments and read music, so he would admire anyone who has that ability.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey Lan."

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah?" She turns to face him. It was this moment that he realized that Lan had a large choker on. It was a dark grey with lights that were turned off in the center. Hanging off the center of the choker was a charm that's the same symbol shaped as her unusual sword.

⠀⠀⠀He pointed at it, "That symbol… I've seen it before."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, the treble clef?"

⠀⠀⠀"Is that what it's called?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, it's the symbol for G notes. Doesn't really have any meaning, it's just my favorite clef symbol."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, I see."

⠀⠀⠀ The two of them enter the mine and marveled at the millions of diamonds that decorate the walls of the mine. The both of them couldn't help but let out a 'wow' under their breath.

⠀⠀⠀"All these diamonds are worth more than Elon Musk's left toenail." Lan comments.

⠀⠀⠀The little men in the mine were minding their own business, doing honest work extracting all the jewels from the mine. The only one wearing glasses notices the two of them enter and alerts the others of their presence.

⠀⠀⠀"Huh? Who are you two?"

⠀⠀⠀"They're diamond thieves! Take cover you fools!" The one with the blazing red shirt exclaims. These caused all the men to panic and run deeper into the mine, away from the two of them. One of them, that was wearing an oversized green shirt bumps into a wall instead and then catches up with the others.

⠀⠀⠀Ventus was a bit offended that this one guy has the gall to assume he's here to steal. Nonetheless, he still upholds his innocent demeanor, "Oh… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you guys."

⠀⠀⠀"That's a bold claim." Lan puts her hands on her hips, smiling, kind of laughing at the label that was slapped onto her by a bunch of dwarfs.

⠀⠀⠀The one wearing brown pokes his head out from the crowd, "You mean— you're not here for our diamonds?"

⠀⠀⠀"That's not very nice! Treating me like I'm some kind of bad guy. I'm just trying to find a friend. His name is Terra. He's dressed kind of like me, about yay tall—" Ventus gets on his tippy-toes and reaches his arm up high to give some kind of visual to the men that Terra is one tall dude.

⠀⠀⠀"Sounds like a tall tale to me! Go on, git!" The red one tries to shoo them away again.

⠀⠀⠀"We don't know any Terra…" A very tired looking one adds.

⠀⠀⠀"Please… Could you guys come over here. I just want to talk." The brunette tugs on the blonde's elbow, which makes him turn his attention to her.

⠀⠀⠀"Dude, just give up. As long as Grumpy's over there, they're going to be as anti-social as that one kid in high-school and that's not gonna get us anywhere."

⠀⠀⠀"Hey! How'd ya know my name?"

⠀⠀⠀The one with glasses laughs a bit at the red one's reaction, "Aw, grumpy's a word, ya know? The lass might just have good intermission—I mean— intuition."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus crossed his arms, "Well, do you know where else we can find people to ask around?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, I saw a forest back over there. We can ask the squirrels where Terra is." Lan stuck out a thumb from the entrance they just entered from.

⠀⠀⠀"Ugh, take this seriously!"

⠀⠀⠀"Wha— I am! Trust me; this a Disney movie, the animals are smarter than they look."

⠀⠀⠀"I don't have time for you to spew nonsense."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, there should be a girl over there. We'll ask a human, if that makes ya feel better."

⠀⠀⠀"And how do you know there's a girl in there?"

⠀⠀⠀"Trust me, I'm psychic. You think I'm bullshitting you? Let's go over there now and see for yourself."

⠀⠀⠀The young boy thought about his options. She is right, the little men aren't exactly being cooperative, and they've admitted to not seeing Terra, so trying to inquire them more is pointless. He knows that Lan isn't human, so what if she's actually telling the truth? Her psychic powers are telling her that there's a girl in the forest. Oh dear, this probably means he can read his mind! A horrifying thought, but as he looks at her, she doesn't seem to react to his thinking right now. So maybe she doesn't have psychic mind-reading powers. He won't know for sure if he doesn't check out the forest.

⠀⠀⠀"Alright, we'll go to the forest."

* * *

⠀⠀⠀The two of them arrive at the cottage in the forest, which they both recognize, however for different reasons.

⠀⠀⠀"This must've been where those little men live." The boy makes an observation.

⠀⠀⠀Before Lan can make any further comments, a blood-curdling scream can be heard from the depths of the forest.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh no! Someone's in trouble." Ventus wasted no time to dash into the forest, where he heard the scream come from. Lan took a moment to make a smirk, "What I tell, ya?" She soon followed him into the forest.

⠀⠀⠀Within the darkness of the forest was a young girl crying on the floor. She wore a yellow dress with a blue top, bell sleeves, and a red cape. Her hair was black as ebony and skin white as snow. The blonde approached the weeping girl with much caution.

⠀⠀⠀"What's wrong?"

⠀⠀⠀In between sobs, she mustered, "It's the trees… They tried to grab me…"

⠀⠀⠀"Maybe that's why Edna doesn't like capes." The brunette muttered.

⠀⠀⠀Ventus helped the princess stand up. She wiped a couple of tears from her eyes before she spoke again, "Oh… I'm so sorry I caused a scene."

⠀⠀⠀Lan raised an eyebrow, "Did you just… apologize for crying?"

⠀⠀⠀The girl was going to say something, but then Lan actually continued, "Aw, this is why you're one of my favorite Disney princesses."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh." She didn't know that the brunette was going to follow up with that, "Why thank you. Oh, I feel so much better now."

⠀⠀⠀"That's good." Ventus gave her a smile.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm sure I'll get by somehow… But I do need a place to sleep." She tells the two her dilemma.

⠀⠀⠀"There's a house over there. I can take you there. Oh, the name's Ventus. Ven for short."

⠀⠀⠀"Thank you, Ven." The girl turns to the other one, giving her a look that seems like she wanted her to say her name.

⠀⠀⠀"Lan."

⠀⠀⠀"Thank you too, Lan. I'm Snow White."

⠀⠀⠀"Aw."—Lan gently placed her hands on her chest — "I've never felt so appreciated in my life."

⠀⠀⠀Lan's overexaggerated response made Snow White giggle.

⠀⠀⠀"C'mon. Let's get going." With Ventus in the lead, they followed him into the forest. Suddenly, Scrappers, Red Hot Chilis, and Floods appeared and swarmed the group.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh!" Snow White immediately went behind Ventus. He and Lan summoned their weapons. They both proceeded to protect the princess from the Unversed. Ventus took this opportunity to examine Lan's fighting. Whatever she was using, it's definitely not a keyblade. It's in the shape of a Treble Clef, according to Lan. She treats it as a sword, judging by the way she swings it very much like one. Sometimes she would take out the discs resting on her belt and throw them like frisbees. Magically, they come back to her and she puts them back on her belt, continuing to use her Treble Clef sword thing with enemies nearby her.

⠀⠀⠀The trio finally reached the cottage and Ventus opens the door and gestures Snow White to head inside. She obeyed quickly and went into the safety of the cottage. Once she was inside, the boy put his Keyblade away and walked inside. Lan just stared out into the forest, weapon still in hand. When she saw nothing coming their way, she put her weapon away as well and went inside.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm pretty sure you'll be safe in here, but I'll check around to make sure. You watch her, Lan."

⠀⠀⠀"What?"

⠀⠀⠀Ventus has already left, leaving Lan and Snow White in the cottage.

⠀⠀⠀"Wow, okay."

⠀⠀⠀Snow White giggled, "You're a good fighter, why I'd say it's also fun to watch."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh… Uh, thanks…" Lan never really knew how to respond to compliments like this one.

⠀⠀⠀"Tell me, is your sword in the shape of a Treble Clef?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, it is. You play music?"

⠀⠀⠀"Why yes, I have music lessons from time to time back at the castle."—She sighs happily, trying to remain positive in her situation by recalling her good memories.

⠀⠀⠀Lan suddenly flashes on a smile, as if she just thought up the most brilliant idea. She looks around the interior of the cottage and starts to speak like she's an actress in a theater, "Oh dear! This place is a mess."

⠀⠀⠀"Hm?" The princess looks around and it becomes clear as to what Lan is talking about, "Oh!"

⠀⠀⠀The entire place was a mess. Dirty dishes were all over the table. There were even more on the counters and sink. Worn clothes were also all over the place. Hanging on chairs, sprawled out on the table, and some were just on the floor. There was so much dust in the place, you'd think that this was an abandoned house. The cobwebs in the corners was the cherry on top if this pigsty. Snow White was appalled.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh my, what a mess!" She looked around even more, noticing the tiny chairs that accompanied the table, "Oh, what tiny chairs. Maybe the people who live here are children. That would explain the mess. Oh, their mother should be cross—" She gasps at a realization she made, "But what if they don't have a mother? What if their orphans?" Her face became riddled with pity.

⠀⠀⠀Lan made that almost laughing smile, "Maybe these aren't bold claims. This was legit how they thought in the 1930s."

⠀⠀⠀"I have an idea. If I helped clean this house, they'll let me stay!" Snow White's bright smile returns on the idea.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah! Totally!" Lan starts to whistle a tune and twirled over to counter to pick up a rag, _"Just whistle while you work~"_ she began to whistle another tune.

⠀⠀⠀The princess couldn't help but smile and join Lan in her musical, _"And cheerfully together we can tidy up the place~"_ she went to go pick up a broom she found and started sweeping up the dirt on the floor. Lan was using the rag as a make-shift feather duster and the two girls started singing together, _"So hum a merry tune~"_ they both hummed in harmony as they continue to dust everything they saw was dirty. Lan put her rag down and proceeded to wash all the dishes.

⠀⠀⠀She was actually smiling and continued the song as she did her mundane chore, _"It won't take long when there's a song to help you set the pace~"_

⠀⠀⠀Snow White, however, kept sweeping the house, _"Imagine that the broom~ Is someone that you love and soon you'll find you're dancing to the tune~"_ The two ladies continued to sing random tunes as they continued to do the house chores.

⠀⠀⠀The unexpected music softly emitting out of the cottage, caught the attention of Ventus who was scanning the area for more Unversed. He raised an eyebrow, but his expression read as curious. He opened the door and watch as the two girls clean the cottage while singing.

⠀⠀⠀He let out a short laugh, "What are you guys doing?"

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, Ven." Snow White was carrying a bunch of clothes, but then she walked over to the young boy and gave it to him, "Be a dear and wash the clothes for me?"

⠀⠀⠀Lan laughed at Ventus as she put the dishes away in the cupboards.

⠀⠀⠀Ventus' mouth was open in shock, but he was still smiling.

⠀⠀⠀"There's a pond nearby, here. I'll accompany you." Snow White walks out of the cottage. The blonde just shrugs and follows the princess.

⠀⠀⠀Ventus lets out a hefty sigh, "Finally done…"

⠀⠀⠀"Haha, hey man. I was here from start to finish." Lan placed a hand over her chest.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, don't worry about that. You two did a wonderful job." Snow White praised.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh," Ventus remembered his quest. He turns to the princess, "Have you seen a guy named Terra? He's kind of dressed like me, really tall, brown hair."

⠀⠀⠀"Hm… Well, I think I've met someone like that. He even has a sword that looked a bit like yours."

⠀⠀⠀"You did? Where'd you see him?"

⠀⠀⠀Snow White points over to the forest, "Past the forest, in the flower glades."

⠀⠀⠀"Thanks so much! Well, bye now." Ventus waves and jogs his way over to the woods.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, you're welcome. Buh-bye now." She waves back.

⠀⠀⠀"Have a nice day, your majesty." Lan bows a bit and quickly follows Ventus.

⠀⠀⠀He raised an eyebrow, "You're not gonna ask her if she's seen anyone you're lookin' for?"

⠀⠀⠀Lan shakes her head, "No, don't need to. I can tell if they're close by or not. I don't see them here, so."

⠀⠀⠀"I see…"

⠀⠀⠀The two of them continue deeper into the dark woods.

⠀⠀⠀They arrive in the flower glades. Upon arrival, Ventus called out for Terra, "Terra!"

⠀⠀⠀No response.

⠀⠀⠀He sighs in disappointment. A red apple rolls over to Lan's feet. Her eyes widen, as if it was a horrifying insect.

⠀⠀⠀So she kicked it.

⠀⠀⠀"We need to get out of here, Ven." She grabbed his arm and dragged him forward.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey wait, what about Terra?"

⠀⠀⠀"He's probably somewhere else."

⠀⠀⠀"Hey." The sinister voice of an old lady was behind them. They turned and the color in their face escaped.

⠀⠀⠀They both screamed, "Ah! Scary lady!" They fled quickly. Leaving the world for a surefire escape from the wicked-looking old lady.


	3. Chapter II: Castle of Dreams

⠀⠀⠀Ventus paces back in forth in the cage. Lan seemed relaxed, though. She somewhat lays on the ground, her left leg bent and planted on the ground. Her right leg is over her left, her knees cross each other, making her right calf hanging in the air. Her left elbow keeps her torso propped up, while her other arm rests across her stomach.

⠀⠀⠀The blonde stops pacing and grabs onto the bars of the cage, "Somebody tell me how we got so small!"

⠀⠀⠀"Hey, bein' small ain't so bad. Imagine all the small holes you can fit yourself into." Lan made a gesture with her right arm.

⠀⠀⠀The door opens, a woman enters the room and approaches the cage Ventus and Lan are in. She was the size of a giant compared to them, which intimidated Ventus, but Lan still remained chill. She picked up the small cage, not actually bothering to be gentle, so it caused the tiny blonde to stumble and fall onto the back of the cage. The brunette saw him coming and quickly got up to hang onto the bars on top, making Ventus crash on impact.

⠀⠀⠀"Ow…"

⠀⠀⠀Lan covered her mouth to conceal a smile. The woman opens the cage door and smiles warmly.

⠀⠀⠀"Don't be afraid. Oh! How interesting... I've never seen mice like you before."

⠀⠀⠀"Mice?" Ventus was shocked.

⠀⠀⠀Lan immediately got offended, "Uh, excuse me! Do I look like a rat to you!?"

⠀⠀⠀The woman didn't seem to mind Lan's anger and instead laughed at it, "Jaq, you better explain things to them." She carefully places the cage back onto the floor and a mouse with red clothes enters the cage.

⠀⠀⠀He walks up to Ventus, "Now, now, now. Looka little guy rake-a easy."

⠀⠀⠀The young boy looks down at the mouse, a bit bewildered by the fact that there's a mouse talking to him.

⠀⠀⠀The mouse continues, "Notta worry 'bout. We like-a you. Cinderelly like-a you too. She's-a nice, very nice nice."

⠀⠀⠀Both Ventus and Lan look up at Cinderella, who did give off a gentle vibe all classic Disney princesses give off. The boy couldn't help but smile at her.

⠀⠀⠀The mouse turns to the exit of the cage and looks back at the two new 'mice', "Come on now, zugk-zugk." He walks out of the cage and Ventus and Lan followed. Once they got out, the mouse introduced himself.

⠀⠀⠀"Name-a Jaq."

⠀⠀⠀"I'm Ventus, call me Ven."

⠀⠀⠀"…Lan."

⠀⠀⠀"Zugk-zugk, Ven Ven. Need-a zuder? Ask-a Jaq!"

⠀⠀⠀"Cinderella!" The voice of a woman can be heard from another room, catching everyone's attention.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh well, time to get to my chores. I'll see you all in a little while." With that, the woman stands up and leaves the room.

⠀⠀⠀This causes Jaq to release a bitter sigh, "Work, work, work. Stepmothy keep-a her-a busy all day!"

⠀⠀⠀"Bet she wished there was more than one of her." Lan doubts anyone's going to get that reference.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah! Cinderelly work-a hard! Gotta dream— big duh-ream. Dream gotta come true."

⠀⠀⠀The boy puts on a soft expression, "That sounds like somebody I know…" A lovely memory resurfaces in Ventus. He remembers fondly of Terra. Swinging a wooden keyblade around as he proudly says,

"_Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about."_

⠀⠀⠀The memory softly remembers his purpose in being in this world, "Hey, maybe you can help me find him. His name's Terra. Have you seen him?"

⠀⠀⠀Jaq puts his head low, "Eeh, no no. never saw Terra 'fore."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus shrugs, "Worth a shot."

⠀⠀⠀"Laugh my ass out; you think Terra would be tiny like us?" Lan asks a real question.

⠀⠀⠀The idea lifts Ventus' spirits and even makes him laugh, "Then he'll get to know how it's like when I'm hanging around him."

⠀⠀⠀The mouse in red clothing walks off into a mouse hole on the side of the wall, "Come on. Follow me. Gotta see the house."

⠀⠀⠀"Woo hoo, Yeah! MTV cribs, let's goooo. C'mon, Ven." Lan skips over to the mouse hole. Ventus just rolls his eyes playfully and follows them.

* * *

⠀⠀⠀Jaq leads them to Cinderella's room, where there's a great view of the king's castle from her window. Jaq hops onto the window sill and Lan does the same, leaning on the side of the frame. Ventus is the last to arrive at the window sill.

⠀⠀⠀He looks at it and asks, "What's that?"

⠀⠀⠀Jaq happily answers his question, "That's-a palace— king's palace. Gonna be-a big ball tonight."

⠀⠀⠀"Is Cinderella going?"

⠀⠀⠀Jaq sighs, "I don't know."

⠀⠀⠀Lan stares at the beautiful blue palace. Slowly she stops leaning on the window frame and twirls around. She sings softly,

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀A dream is a wish your heart makes._

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀When your fast asleep._

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀In dreams you will lose your heartaches._

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Whatever you wish for, you keep._

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Have faith in your dreams and someday._

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Your rainbow will come smiling through._

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀No matter how your heart is grieving._

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀If you keep on believing._

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀The dream that you wish._

_⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Will come true._

⠀⠀⠀Jaq claps at Lan's spontaneous performance, "That's-a Cinderelly's song."

⠀⠀⠀At first, Ventus thought it was totally random at first, but when Lan started singing he was amused. Lan has a pretty good singing voice. It sounded soft and suited the song she was singing.

⠀⠀⠀The creak of a door can be heard, the three of them turned to see who was entering the room. It's Cinderella smiling, "Did you teach her that song, Jaq?"

⠀⠀⠀"No no. Lan Lan already-a knew the song."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh? Really? Where did you hear that song then?" The woman walks over to a mannequin to work on the dress it's wearing.

⠀⠀⠀"In the Disney classic songs collection." Lan responds.

⠀⠀⠀"What?" Cinderella didn't exactly understand the response.

⠀⠀⠀"Why are you like this?" Ventus suddenly asks.

⠀⠀⠀"What? I'm telling the truth."

⠀⠀⠀Cinderella's name can be heard echoing through the house. This time two other girls were calling for her too.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh well, I guess my dress would have to wait." Her shoulders droop.

⠀⠀⠀"Cinderella!"

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, I'm coming!" She leaves the room.

⠀⠀⠀Jaq wears an expression full of pity, "Poor Cinderelly. She not go to the ball…"

⠀⠀⠀"Why not?" Ventus innocently asks.

⠀⠀⠀Jaq refers to the unfinished dress on the mannequin, "You see, they fix her. Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done."

⠀⠀⠀Lan dawns a puzzling look, "Really? Where are your rat friends fixing up the dress? Oh, wait—"

⠀⠀⠀"Oh! That's-a very good idea! Let's-a do it!"

⠀⠀⠀"We're the rat friends that have to fix up the dress…"

⠀⠀⠀"Okay then. Let's do it." Ventus was low-key excited, but Lan was the opposite.

⠀⠀⠀She walked over to him, "What? No. Her stepsisters are just gonna ruin it anyway, so what's the point?"

⠀⠀⠀"What? How do you know that's gonna happen?"

⠀⠀⠀"Because I'm psychic."

⠀⠀⠀It was that line again, and this time Ventus is more inclined to believe because Lan was actually right about there being a girl in the forest. So, he freaked out.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh my god, you can read my mind! Can you?" The boy raises his hands to back away from Lan, but she just shakes her head.

⠀⠀⠀"Dude, I'm just kidding."

⠀⠀⠀His stance gets less defensive, "Really?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, me being psychic's just a joke, calm down."

⠀⠀⠀"… Then how'd you know what I was thinking sometimes and how do you know there really was a girl back in that forest?"

⠀⠀⠀"You know what a movie is?"

⠀⠀⠀"No."

⠀⠀⠀"Do you… know what a play is? Like a theater show?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah… I know what that is."

⠀⠀⠀"Let's just say, in my world, these worlds we just happen to go are like famous plays. Like the last one; in the play there's a fourteen-year-old girl named Snow White who's so damn beautiful it makes her stepmother jealous, so she tries to kill her. She hires a huntsman to do the job, but he pussies out and makes Snow White run into the forest where she sees freaky looking trees and has a mental breakdown in the forest. Then some animals cheer her up and she stumbles upon a cottage where the seven dwarfs lives and 'enforces a bad stereotype for little girls' by cleaning the house and cooking for them. But the Dwarfs are like, 'sweet, a free maid' and are totally chill with it. Meanwhile her bitch of a stepmother drinks a potion to turn her into a sleep paralysis demon and poisons an apple so Snow white can eat it and die."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh…"

⠀⠀⠀"You get it now?"

⠀⠀⠀"So that's why you kicked that apple…"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, I just saved her life."

⠀⠀⠀"Huh, so this world is another play you've seen too?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, and now that I think about it. If we don't fix up Cinderella's dress. She won't be able to go to the ball and be bummed out, but if her stepsisters actually ruin her dress she'll have that mental breakdown moment that'll make her fairy godmother show up and glam her up for the ball. So, in some kind of fucked way, we have to fix her dress…"

⠀⠀⠀"Huh… Well… if you say so."

⠀⠀⠀Jaq jumped in joy, finally hearing some words he actually understands, "Yes, yes! Rook around the house. Lots-a pretty pretty things."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus nodded, "Alright, we'll look around the house then." He and Lan jumped down from the window and walked straight to the mouse hole on the wall, but Jaq stopped them before they left.

⠀⠀⠀"Zugk-zugk! Care fee Roos-a-fee!"

⠀⠀⠀The boy turned to him and gave a questioning look, "'Roos-a-fee'?"

⠀⠀⠀Lan leaned over to Ventus slightly, "An ugly cat that lives here."

⠀⠀⠀Jaq nodded, "Yeah yeah! A cat cat. Mean and sneaky… Jump at you! Bite at you!"

⠀⠀⠀"Gotcha." Ventus nodded as he walked out of the room with Lan following behind. They chatted a bit as they go through the house's mouseholes.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey, Ven."

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah?"

⠀⠀⠀"Remember when you didn't believe me when I said we should ask the squirrels where Terra is?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah— Oh…"

⠀⠀⠀"Who looks like a fool now, huh?"

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, but maybe we can understand Jaq here because we're small like him."

⠀⠀⠀"Cinderella can understand Jaq too and she's 'normal-sized'."

⠀⠀⠀"… You got a point there."

⠀⠀⠀"It's okay, Ven, I forgive you already."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh right, sorry."

⠀⠀⠀The two of them arrive in the wardrobe room and find various cloths and accessories on the floor. Lan put her hands on her hips, "Well, I'm sure Cinderella's entitled stepsisters aren't going to miss any of the shit we find on the floor because, you know, they wouldn't put it on the floor in the first place."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus let himself chuckle a little bit. A smile grew on his face, "Yeah, we'll teach them a lesson in taking better care of their stuff."

⠀⠀⠀"I'm not stealing, I'm just… _borrowing_."

⠀⠀⠀The blonde and brunette began giggling like mischievous fourth graders that just discovered what the concept of a prank is. They gathered lace and pink fabrics and brought it all back to Jaq. The mouse smiled looking at all the things for Cinderella's dress.

⠀⠀⠀"Very good good! But still needs a pretty pretty pearl."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh right, that beaded necklace her sisters are going to rip apart." Lan was trying to remember where she saw it in the wardrobe room.

⠀⠀⠀Jaq was confused, but also worried, "Say what now?"

⠀⠀⠀"Nothing, we'll go back and look for it."—she leans over to Ventus—"You remember where it is?"

⠀⠀⠀Ventus shrugged his shoulders slightly, "Nope, but doesn't hurt to go back and check."

* * *

⠀⠀⠀As the two of them returned to the wardrobe room, they find the teal beaded necklace, but it was wrapped around a paw of a dark-coated obese cat that appears to be sleeping. Ventus and Lan were behind a table leg and the boy looked at Lan, figuring she probably has an idea on what to do here.

⠀⠀⠀"He probably took those beads on purpose to fuck with us. Well, I ain't afraid of this fat hairball. Run these hands!" She boldly walks up to the feline, but Ventus stayed behind. He initially did not want to bother the cat too much, but then Lan brought up the fact that the beads they were looking for were conveniently wrapped around the cat's paw. It is very possible that this is just a trap to lure in the mice, cats do like eating them.

⠀⠀⠀But, Ventus knows he is not a mouse, so he should not be scared. Besides, he knows how to defend himself. So, he followed Lan, just did not really walk with as much confidence as her. The brunette made the necklace slip out from the cat's paw and stepped back as she held onto it. As expected, the cat was only pretending to sleep and opened its eyes immediately when it felt the beads move.

⠀⠀⠀Ventus was ready and summoned his keyblade. Lan shouted, "Hey, Jaq! You in here?"

⠀⠀⠀The red-clothed mouse popped out of the mousehole and was surprised to see the large cat in front of the newcomers. Without warning, Lan threw the necklace over to Jaq and summoned her treble clef sword. She continued, "Take the pearls, I'm about to shed some pounds off this thing."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus nodded, "Yeah! Let's give this thing a work-out!"

⠀⠀⠀The two of them prepared for the cat to attack first, they stood their ground as the cat raised its paws and attempted to strike them. However, they split once the cat began to swing down, causing it to miss them completely. Lan wasted no time, she ran up to the side of the cat and jumped up to kick the back of its head. It let out a startled meow as its head gets launched towards Ventus.

⠀⠀⠀The blonde struck the cat from the side of the head with his keyblade when it got close enough. It made the cat fling to the side where it quickly decides not to mess with these 'mice' anymore.

⠀⠀⠀Lan makes her sword disappear and she puts her hands on her waist, "Remember kids; it's not animal abuse if you're in a Disney movie."

⠀⠀⠀"Haha, yeah. We make a pretty good team."

⠀⠀⠀"C'mon, we've gotta dress to make so we can get cosplayer skills."

⠀⠀⠀"Right!"

* * *

⠀⠀⠀Cinderella goes back into her own room and walks over to the window to look at the castle, "Oh, well... What's a royal ball? After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull and boring...and completely...completely wonderful."

⠀⠀⠀"Cinderelly!"

⠀⠀⠀She turns to see who called her name, but instead, her partition opened by Lan, Jaq, and Ventus, revealing a pink and white dress that they've been slaving over the past hour.

⠀⠀⠀"Surprise!" Ventus looked excited.

⠀⠀⠀"Happy birthday."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus looked at Lan with confusion, "It's her birthday?"

⠀⠀⠀"Nah, just messing around."

⠀⠀⠀"Is that my dress?" Cinderella's looked at it with joyful awe.

⠀⠀⠀"Yes, m'lady, specially hand-tailored by yours truly." Lan bowed, since it was pretty obvious that the girl was joking, Ventus couldn't help but laugh a little.

⠀⠀⠀"Why, it's...it's such a surprise..."

⠀⠀⠀"Flurry flurry, time a go, Cinderelly."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, Thank you."

⠀⠀⠀Once Cinderella left the room, the three of them sat on the window sill as they look out into the castle.

⠀⠀⠀"Jaq-Jaq hope-a Cinderelly dream come true… What's-a Ven Ven dream?" The mouse looks over at Ventus.

⠀⠀⠀He looks at him back, "Huh? I wonder…" The boy thinks back to that moment with Terra again. He holds the wooden keyblade up as he expresses wanting to be a keyblade master and how much he's dreamed of it.

_⠀⠀⠀"Well, you're not the only one." Aqua was there too._

_⠀⠀⠀"I know. You, me, and Ven all share the same dream."_

⠀⠀⠀Ventus's expression was neutral, his eyes stare out into the open blankly, "Funny... I'd never really thought about it—at least until you asked me. My dream is to become a Keyblade Master." He holds out his hand and summons his keyblade.

⠀⠀⠀"Hope-a Ven Ven dream come true, too."

⠀⠀⠀"I just need to keep on believing, right?"

⠀⠀⠀"zugk-zugk."

⠀⠀⠀"What about you, Lan?"

⠀⠀⠀The girl didn't look over Ventus, despite him looking at her, "Huh?"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm asking what your dream is."

⠀⠀⠀"My dream…? I guess… That would have to be to live peacefully. I want to go to sleep one night, without worrying about some asshole ruining my day when I wake up in the morning. I just wanna do whatever I want without any stress."

⠀⠀⠀"Hm… I see."

"Sounds like a good dream."


	4. Chapter III: Enchanted Dominion

⠀⠀⠀ Ventus and Lan walk down a castle corridor. Lan looks around to appreciate the architecture, but Ventus stares at the ground, "Still no sign of Terra."

⠀⠀⠀"Don't feel too down, maybe he's in this one! And besides… Visiting all these worlds are fun, don'tcha think?"

⠀⠀⠀"You're not wrong." The boy looks at the door at the end of the hall. It made the two of them stop and look at it.

⠀⠀⠀"Wanna see what's behind door number one?"

⠀⠀⠀"Sure."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus goes to open the door which revealed a room that appears to be a bedroom. On the bed laid a gift with One gift, beauty rare. Full of sunshine in her hair. Lips that shame the red red rose. She'll walk with springtime wherever she goes. She was in a deep slumber and her face appeared to be at peace.

⠀⠀⠀"Ah…" Ventus was enchanted the moment he laid eyes on her. He walked up to her carefully to get a closer look while Lan stayed a fair distance away from the bed.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, now we're in this movie. The castle should've been dead giveaway. I'm starting to see a trend here; we keep bumping into classic Disney princess movies."

⠀⠀⠀"Stop, you get away from her!" A woman's voice startled the both of them. They turned to see three fairies, one was dressed in a blue dress and had a pointed hat that his most of her black hair and matched her dress. The other two wore something very similar, expect one was red and the other green and both their hair color were dull and grey.

⠀⠀⠀"Wha— Oh, I'm sorry. It's just, I've never seen anyone so beautiful."

⠀⠀⠀"What? That's your excuse for breaking and entering, Ven?"

⠀⠀⠀"Hey, you were the one who encouraged me to get in here!"  
⠀⠀⠀"I'm not giving you shit for committing a crime. I'm giving you shit for not being smart enough to commit a crime."

⠀⠀⠀The red fairy flew up to the two of them and looked at them carefully before she flies back to the other fairies. "Who are you?"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm Ventus. But you can call me Ven."

⠀⠀⠀The fairies looked over at Lan, who's yet to introduce herself to them. They looked at her curiously letting out a 'hmm' as they look at her. The green fairy spoke before Lan got a word out, "Oh, you my dear are made out of pure magic."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh wow, you can tell just by lookin' at me?"

⠀⠀⠀"Oh yes, and I can tell it's good magic like ours, nowhere near close to Maleficent's evil magic."—The green fairy looks back at Ventus—"and you; You don't seem bad, dear. I'm certain you have a pure heart, just like our precious Aurora." All of them, except for Lan, looked over at the sleeping girl in the bed.

⠀⠀⠀Pure boy, Ventus, looks back at the fairies and inquires, "Can you tell me why she's sleeping?"

⠀⠀⠀The red fairy spoke, "Long ago, Maleficent cursed her. Now she's stolen her heart."

⠀⠀⠀Lan's expression wrinkled into slight confusion, "I don't remember that part of the movie…"

⠀⠀⠀"Hm... Well then, why don't we go get it back for her?" Ventus offered.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, you would do that? That would be great! I'm sure you'll be fine with your friend made of pure magic here." The green fairy smiled at the idea.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, it'll be no problem. Right, Lan?"

⠀⠀⠀Lan crossed her arms, "Sure… better than having a slumber party."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus couldn't help but laugh a bit, even though there's a feeling in the back of his head that that joke was pretty dark.

⠀⠀⠀"Maleficent's home is at the Forbidden Mountain. It's through the

forest. Come along-follow us. After all, we wouldn't want you to get lost." The red fairy led the other two fairies out of the room. As they get closer to the door, they take out their wands to use their magic to transform them into small glowing orbs of their respective color. The door opens by itself and the two of them follow the glowing lights down the hallway.

⠀⠀⠀As they walked, Ventus couldn't help but wonder what the fairies meant when they said Lan was made out of pure magic, "Hey, Lan. Is it really true that you're made out of pure magic?"

⠀⠀⠀The brunette raised her arms up and put her interlocked her hands behind her neck, "Yeah that's true. Although I don't really know what the fairies mean when they say I'm 'good magic'. Pretty sure I'm not a saint last time I checked."

⠀⠀⠀"You certainly don't talk like one…" Ventus was referring to the fact that Lan definitely has a sailor mouth. Ventus tends to stay away from bad words and does not really feel comfortable saying them himself. However, "But you know… You're not a bad person. You talk like a mean person, but you're actually nice. You're helping me out looking for Terra, You fight to protect others, and I'm not gonna lie, you're pretty funny."

⠀⠀⠀"Aw, Ven… You're gonna make me cry."

⠀⠀⠀He smiled as they walked out of the castle, "I'm glad that out of all the people that's helping me look for Terra, it's you."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, you can stop kissing my ass now."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus laughed again. They walked across the stone bridge in silent serenity for a moment. As they were about to enter the forest clearing, the air suddenly changed. Ventus stopped smiling and he looked over at Lan. He could not see her face, but she seemed to be looking down on the ground.

⠀⠀⠀"You're a good person too, Ventus. You help others without hesitating about the dangers and you don't even care if they're strangers."

"I wish there was more people like you."

* * *

⠀⠀⠀Eventually, the group reached the end of the forest where they found themselves road blocked by a wall of green flames.

⠀⠀⠀Lan looked at it up and down, "Did you know, you can make green flames by mixing borax and methanol?"

⠀⠀⠀"What are those two things?" Ventus tilted his head a bit.

⠀⠀⠀Lan turned back to Ventus with a confused look, "What? How old are you?"

⠀⠀⠀"16."

⠀⠀⠀"What high school do you go to?"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm an apprentice under Master Xehanort."

⠀⠀⠀"… Oh shit… you never went to school— I don't mean to sound rude, but where were you raised?"

⠀⠀⠀"In the Land of Departure."

⠀⠀⠀"… Okay, Ven. Once this is all over I'mma show you the world of chemistry and arson."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh no, this won't do…" The green fairy commented on the fire wall.

⠀⠀⠀"I know what to do, here." The red fairy flew up to the flames and used her magic to make the flames disappear. "Shall we?"

⠀⠀⠀"That was… convenient. Or maybe Maleficent isn't hot shit."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus scoffed, "It's most likely the latter."

⠀⠀⠀The group begins to walk towards the menacing castle in the distance. The sky was dark and there were thorns littered around the castle's exterior. It was a completely different vibe from Sleeping Beauty's castle. They reached the entrance of the castle just walking right in. The castle seemed old, since there were signs of wear and tear all over the castle. Many structures were destroyed, and ruble was placed everywhere. It was hard to tell which archway led to where.

⠀⠀⠀"This place is like a maze…" Ventus looked around as they wandered aimlessly.

⠀⠀⠀"You know, I always thought castles in video games were designed weird. Then I went to an actual castle and apparently, they deadass are just built like that, it ain't for game design purposes." Lan walked near Ventus; she didn't want to separate from him since getting lost alone is nearly not as fun.

⠀⠀⠀Eventually, they reached a room with small monsters standing on each side on a short set of stairs. They appear to be half asleep.

⠀⠀⠀"Careful, they're Maleficent's." The green fairy warned.

⠀⠀⠀"Nah, they're idiots. Imbeciles. Oh, they're hopeless. A disgrace to the forces of evil!"—Lan lowered her voice—"Kind of like the live-action Maleficent movie."

⠀⠀⠀"Well, they ain't guardin' nothing." Ventus runs up to the goons as he summons his keyblade, "Ten-shun! No sleeping on the job!"

⠀⠀⠀"Hope you all have health insurance!" Lan soon followed with summoning her treble clef. The monsters shook themselves awake and angrily charged towards the two. Lan swung her treble clef like a bat and the unfortunate monster that ran her way went flying towards a wall and slammed against it.

⠀⠀⠀"Whew! Yeah, 10 points."

⠀⠀⠀More monsters came out of the woodwork. Ventus fended them off easily since their spears and pitchforks were not really a match for his Wayward Wind. They felt more like toothpicks to him. Despite the numbers, Ventus and Lan came out of the ambush with only a few scratches here and there. Ventus put his keyblade away as he looked over at Lan. She looked uninjured, but he noticed that there were some yellow lines on her arms. It kind of looked like scratches.

⠀⠀⠀Lan did not really seem to mind these yellow scratches, she just looked back at Ventus with an unbothered smile on her face, "Ready to go into the boss room?"

⠀⠀⠀"… Yeah." They proceeded to go into the next room. Ventus did not exactly know what Lan meant when she asked that, but he had a feeling it had something to do with moving on from this place. The group found themselves in a large room where they can see green flames surrounding a heart in the back of it.

⠀⠀⠀"There it is!" Ventus runs towards the back of the room but is stopped by a wall that suddenly sprouts from the ground.

⠀⠀⠀"Woah!" His feet braked once it appeared. Thankfully the wall popped out far enough to give enough time for someone to not get heavily injured. Maleficent is evil, but not cruel apparently.

⠀⠀⠀Lan did not seem too surprised that that happened, "Yeah… Thought this room was suspiciously large."

⠀⠀⠀"A warning would've been nice."

⠀⠀⠀"Hey, I wasn't so sure."

⠀⠀⠀The blonde sighed, "Whatever. Let's get through the maze so we can return Aurora's heart."

⠀⠀⠀The girl walked up to Ventus and they proceeded to walk in the areas where they could access. If a wall popped up, they would just turn when they had to. The two of them spoke as they went through the maze.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey Lan… I've been meaning to ask, but what are you exactly?"

⠀⠀⠀"Well… I'm called a Puppet Master back in my world. I was created by ██████ who was just some lonely old man that just so happened to be a powerful magic user."

⠀⠀⠀"Wow… That's really cool."

⠀⠀⠀"Heh, well I guess it's cool."

⠀⠀⠀"Is ██████ who you're looking for?"

⠀⠀⠀"Him? Nah, he's dead. Been that way for a long time actually."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh… Sorry."

⠀⠀⠀"It's alright. He died of old age. He lived his life with no regrets."

⠀⠀⠀"… Who is it that you're looking for then?"

⠀⠀⠀"Let's see… They're my subordinates pretty much, but I see them more as pals I can boss around."

⠀⠀⠀"Subordinates? You're a leader!?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah… Why're you actin' all surprised?"

⠀⠀⠀"It's just… You don't _act_ like a leader."

⠀⠀⠀"What the fuck is a leader supposed to act like?"

⠀⠀⠀Ventus tensed up at that. In his head, he figured that leaders would be people like Master Xehanort and Eraqus. Lan is not anywhere near those two in terms of presence. She presents herself as more laidback. He has never seen her panic nor take anything seriously despite her situation and Lan doesn't really say much about herself unless prompted. Although, he has have seen her mad, but not nearly as much as now. Her anger is probably what set people straight because he does realize that what she asked was actually a fair question.

⠀⠀⠀The boy crosses his arms, "Hmm… I don't know."

⠀⠀⠀The two of them stopped in front of the heart surrounded by green flames. Ventus knew exactly what to do and summoned his keyblade to release Aurora's heart. He spun it in his hand and pointed at the heart. A beam of light shot out of the tip of his keyblade and hits the trapped heart. The green flames disappeared, and the heart floated away back to its respectful owner.

⠀⠀⠀"That should do it." Suddenly Ventus freezes. He stares out into the distance as Lan walks up to him. His eyes appeared blank which puzzled Lan.

⠀⠀⠀"You good?" she asks.

⠀⠀⠀Ventus didn't reply right away, it took a moment before he was able to speak, "What was that?"

⠀⠀⠀The red fairy spoke, "Aurora's memory. She must have gotten her heart back."

⠀⠀⠀"So you're telling me he just got a sample of the Sleeping Beauty the VR experience?"

⠀⠀⠀Ventus looks over at Lan, "You know… now I kind of want to visit your world, so I can understand half of the things you say."

⠀⠀⠀"No, you don't."

⠀⠀⠀"What? Oh, c'mon… why not?"

⠀⠀⠀"That place is a shithole."

⠀⠀⠀"You don't like your home world?"

⠀⠀⠀"No."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, wow… I don't think I've ever met someone who's hated their own world…"

⠀⠀⠀"Probably because you've only been to Disney worlds"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm sure your world can't be that bad…"

⠀⠀⠀"I guess you could say that there's a small list of redeeming qualities, and that I can't just run away from it, I've got unfinished business there."

⠀⠀⠀The blue fairy spoke with urgency, "Alright. Hurry, we can't stay here!"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm not gonna lie, I low-key wanna see Maleficent with my own eyes." Lan admitted.

⠀⠀⠀"Why would you want that? She's mean and ugly!"

⠀⠀⠀"Now now, Merryweather, that's not very nice to say." Said the green fairy.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, Maleficent isn't really a nice person."

⠀⠀⠀"Perhaps she's just not happy."

⠀⠀⠀"Let's just get going." Ventus prompts everyone to leave the room. They all walked through the castle with not many obstacles in the way, since Ventus and Lan swept the place free of enemies earlier. It wasn't until they reached the throne room were they interrupted by a voice.

⠀⠀⠀"Someone has released Aurora's heart. Tell me, child, was it you?"

⠀⠀⠀They turn to see the one and only Maleficent.

⠀⠀⠀"It's Maleficent!" cried the fairies.

⠀⠀⠀ Lan seemed amused, "Oh shit."

⠀⠀⠀Ventus' expression turned into one of anger, "Only 'cause you stole it in the first place!" He summons his keyblade and rushes to Maleficent, but she turns into green flames and appears on a higher platform.

⠀⠀⠀"A Keyblade... You must be Ventus."

⠀⠀⠀"Huh? How do you know about me... and the Keyblade?"

⠀⠀⠀Lan only walked up Ventus, "Woah, you two got some history?"

⠀⠀⠀"I've never met this lady in my life!"

⠀⠀⠀"That is true, but you, I don't know of. You seem to be made of magic, but you're not a fairy…"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm sure there's an AU of me being a fairy somewhere out there."

⠀⠀⠀"You speak nonsense…"

⠀⠀⠀Ventus shook his head, "Argh! Never mind that; how do you know about the keyblade?"

⠀⠀⠀"My powers ensure I'd know of the key to bringing me hearts. Terra gave me a demonstration."

⠀⠀⠀"Terra? He was here?"

⠀⠀⠀"Why, yes. In fact, it was he who stole Princess Aurora's heart."

⠀⠀⠀"That's a lie!" Ventus prepares to fight Maleficent. Lan sees that it was necessary to summon her treble clef so she did just that.

⠀⠀⠀"I was asked to leave you unharmed...but it seems I have no choice!"

⠀⠀⠀Maleficent waved her staff to turn into an abstract swirl of black, purple, and yellow. The galaxy-like swirl flies towards Lan and Ventus, but they both roll to the side to evade it.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, cool. It's that wispy thing that Maleficent turned into before she became a dragon." Lan seemed to not feel in danger.

⠀⠀⠀"She can turn into a dragon!?"

⠀⠀⠀"Let's try to stop her before she does that."

⠀⠀⠀"Right!" Ventus ran up to where the wisp went to and Maleficent emerged from the abstraction. He slashed at her consecutively, comboing her with one strike after another. Despite the clear damage he was putting on her, she didn't stagger for some reason. Creepy.

⠀⠀⠀It was Lan's turn to deal her attack she ran up to the evil fairy and tried to strike her, but she disappeared into green flames and appeared somewhere else. The brunette couldn't help but get frustrated, so she glared at Maleficent.

⠀⠀⠀The mistress of evil raised her staff and shouted, "Thunder!" As purple lighting zapped out of the green orb on top of her staff. Ventus and Lan were able to dodge (since she basically gave them a warning) and they both ran towards her.

⠀⠀⠀Lan swung her sword and landed a blow, but that just made Maleficent shift her eyes towards her, "You're quite peculiar. I want to find out more about you, but I'm afraid that you helped Ventus release Aurora's heart. So I don't see you allying with me." She turned into green flames and reappears somewhere else.

⠀⠀⠀Lan turns to Maleficent, "Whatever, you don't really seem too fun to hang out with anyway."

⠀⠀⠀"Hmph." Maleficent raises both her arms, "Thunder's might and lighting's strike!" bolts of lightning strike random parts of the room. Ventus lunges over to place to place to avoid the lightning, but he did get shocked from being too close to the strikes. Lan tried to avoid them by running around randomly, but that strategy didn't work since she was struck by the last one. She cried in pain, but only growled at her opponent after the strike. The yellow cracks she got when fighting Maleficent's goons got longer and one on her right arm caused a piece of her to fall off. It was as if Lan was made out of glass.

⠀⠀⠀Ventus ran up Maleficent to land some blows, but she soon teleported to the center of the room and raised her staff, "Into sleep, you fall forever!" The room became dark. A wave of magic surged the room, when it hit Ventus he let out a small grunt before he fell to the ground and into a slumber.

⠀⠀⠀The fairies gasped, "Oh no!"

⠀⠀⠀Lan seemed unaffected when she was hit. In fact; it seemed as she was aware that she immune to it and ran up to Maleficent while she was casting.

⠀⠀⠀Maleficent noticed too late, once she put her staff down she was in shock when she saw Lan run up to her, "What!?"

⠀⠀⠀The brunette jumped up and swung her treble clef to land a hefty blow on Maleficent. This time she finally staggered and limped away from the fight, "You… how can something so fragile be able to be this strong…"

⠀⠀⠀Lan didn't see a point in continuing the fight, so she made her treble clef disappear and used her left hand to cover the open crack on her right arm, "What is with you fairies reading me to filth?"

⠀⠀⠀"When you can use magic yourself… you're able to recognize it in others."

⠀⠀⠀"Fair, I guess."

⠀⠀⠀"Ven!" A new voice interjects. Footsteps soon followed it, revealing that it belonged to Aqua. She rushed to Ventus and carefully picked him up, "Oh no… Ven? Can you hear me?"

⠀⠀⠀The blonde's eyes remained closed. His breathing remained steady as he stays in his unconscious state. This angered Aqua, she glared up at Maleficent (assuming she did this), "What did you do to him?"

⠀⠀⠀"The boy is only asleep… He refused to believe me when I said his friend, Terra, stole the heart of a princess."

⠀⠀⠀"What? Terra would never do that!"

⠀⠀⠀"I don't know… Maleficent isn't the type to lie about that kind of stuff." Lan pointed out.

⠀⠀⠀This caused Aqua to look at her with disgust, "Whose side are you on?"

⠀⠀⠀"Honesty's."

⠀⠀⠀Maleficent cackles, very amused with the exchange happening before her, "The side of honesty! Yes, the girl is right. I wouldn't dare lie about the truth. It can be cruel even amongst the closest of friends. After all, one never knows the secrets of another's heart. I'm sure you'll agree."

⠀⠀⠀Aqua picked Ventus up by holding his back with one arm and using the other arm to go under his knees.

⠀⠀⠀Lan looked at the bluenette with a shocked and slightly appalled expression, "Hey! Where are you taking him?"

⠀⠀⠀Aqua was about to walk away, but she stopped and turned back to Lan when she called out to her, "I am taking Ven home."

⠀⠀⠀"What? What're you? His mom?"

⠀⠀⠀"What? No—!"

⠀⠀⠀"Then let me try to find a way to wake him up, he's got things to do and something tells me he won't be so happy once he finds out he's back at home."

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, and what do you know? Who are you anyway?"

⠀⠀⠀"Ventus' friend. I'm not gonna assume I know what's going on between you two, but in my professional opinion; you shouldn't just drag Ven wherever you want while he's unconscious. Don't you care about his feelings?"

⠀⠀⠀"I do care about him! That's why I'm taking him back home where he's safe."

⠀⠀⠀"Take him home, and then what? Maleficent put him to sleep. If you take him home now, how're you gonna get him back up?"

⠀⠀⠀Aqua didn't reply to that one right away. It seemed like her silence was too long because Maleficent interrupted, "Oh, you two are taking up too much of my time…" Maleficent actually kept talking, but Lan wasted no time, once she heard that impatient groan, she immediately went to Aqua to take Ventus back from her and run.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey!— Ah!"

⠀⠀⠀By the tap of Maleficent's staff, the floor gave out and Aqua fell in. The mistress of evil looked over to the place that Lan ran to, "Hm… That girl… She knew this what I was going to do and took advantage of it…"


	5. Chapter IV: Mysterious Tower

Lan managed to run all the way to the forest. She set him down on the grass, not exactly bothering to be gentle, and panted for air. The sounds of slight shattering come out of the small crack of Lan's right arm. There were some tiny pieces that managed to fall out. She covered the crack with her left hand and sighed, "What a mess I got myself into…."

She looked over Ventus and sat down on the floor, crossing her legs, "Okay… What to do now… Plot convince fairies?" The brunette looked up, but nothing responded to her. The three colored orbs did not come flying in, in fact, they were not anywhere to be found.

"Shit… guess not. Well, I guess even though I'm in a Disney movie, I shouldn't just expect things to fall out of the sky."

As Lan thought about what her next line of action was, she heard the sounds of something glittery bumping into a bunch of stuff. It was slowly getting closer to her, and as it was, she can even hear the screams of a familiar voice whose first words were 'hot dog'. She was about to stand up and take out her sword, but one she heard the voice, she relaxed.

The object where all the noise was coming from soon appeared in a flash. A bright light came crashing down in front of the two and out from the light was an anthropomorphic mouse wearing a monochrome outfit. He stumbled about as he emerged from the light. He shook his head vigorously to stabilize himself. He turned around and noticed Lan and Ventus right away.

"Well… What was I exactly expecting? Should I really be surprised at this point?"

The mouse looked puzzled, "Uh, pardon me?"

"Nothing. So what's your deal?"

"What's my deal? Gosh, usually when I meet a stranger, I introduce myself first."

"Lan Chia. Sleepy boy over there is Ventus."

"Well, I'm Mickey Mouse! Say, why is your friend sleeping there?"

"He's in a coma."

"What!?"

"Think I'm joking? Slap him around and see what happens."

"No! No! I wouldn't do something that awful…"

"Well, I don't know what to do. Some evil fairy put him to sleep, and I know that 'true love's kiss' probably has something to do with it…? But I don't even know Ven enough to know who fits that bill… Sure as hell ain't me, I ain't into that gay shit."

Mickey wanted to say something but Lan kept going, "You know what, I don't even think the whole 'true love's kiss' thing is even going to work. It was casted by Maleficent herself. The only reason the whole kissy thing works is because Merriweather used her magic to be that way. Ah, fuck. Does that mean my boy Ventus here is screwed?"

The mouse goes over to Ventus to get a better look at him. He sees that he is breathing, so it's not a corpse in the making.

"Hmm… well, I think my master, Yen Sid can help with this, but…"

"Yen Sid? Disney spelled backwards? Fantasia? Racist centaurs?"

"Huh, Yen Sid spelled backwards is Disney… but uh, I don't think I understand the other half of what you're saying."

"Don't worry about it. You said he can help, right?"

"Ah, yes! But, gawsh, I uh… ran away from him, so…"

"It be awkward if you just come back?"

"Well, yes, but not only that—"Mickey took out an object that looks like a star—"I have this star shard that allows me to travel to different worlds. All I hafta to do is think really hard about where I want to go, and it'll take me there!... At least, that's how I thought it worked."

"Oh, it wasn't your intention to end up here?"

"Yup… Yen Sid found out the worlds were in trouble, so I grabbed this thing and took off. You know, now that I think about, I probably ended up here because I wasn't being specific."

"Makes sense… that's how Lila's water portals work…"

"Pardon?"

"Just talkin' to myself. Can I see that thing?"

"Oh, sure."

The mouse handed over the star shard to Lan who held it up and it actually started glowing, much to Mickey's surprise.

"Oh, Star Shard, take me to a place where I can lift the curse placed upon Ventus."

The light emitting from the star shard became blinding and soon Lan, Ventus, and Mickey turned into a shooting star that flew out of the world.

* * *

The shooting star crash-landed on a floating island that had a tall tower with strange architecture. Lan and Mickey stayed standing when the star crashed and its light disperse, while Ventus was still laying on the ground. The mouse looked around and seemed a bit disappointed when he realized where they were.

"Oh… it's this place." Mickey felt mixed feelings being back here.

Lan was still holding onto the star shard. She let it hang on her belt where the discs are, "What's wrong with this place?"

"This is Yen Sid's tower."

"Oh, so you're scared you might get a magical ass-whoopin'?"

"Mm! Let's just get in there and get this over with."

Lan couldn't help but laugh at Mickey's pain as she picked up Ventus. She carried him with one arms supporting his back and the other holding up his knees. The mouse led the way as they entered the tower and up the stairs. When Mickey opened the door, there waiting for him in the middle of the room was Master Yen Sid sitting at his desk. His expression looked angry, but that's probably because his eyebrows are at such an angle. Those eyebrows of his raised slightly in surprise when he saw Lan carrying Ventus.

"Mickey, you have returned."

"Uh, yeah. I ran into these two here and they need our help."

"I see…"—Yen Sid looks over at Lan carrying Ventus, he seems to have recognized the boy, "What happened to Ventus here?"

Lan and Mickey were surprised, they even spoke at the same time, "You know Ventus?"

The brunette kept talking, "Oh, don't tell me; you're a guy that knows about everything but me, right?"

The wizard just stared at Lan for a while, "You've had plenty of experiences."

"Haha, the nice way of saying that I'm surprisingly old…"

Mickey looked up at Lan curiously, "Really? Just… how old are 'ya?"

"None of your damn beeswax."

"S-sorry…"

Yen Sid spoke again, "You are right, I don't know who you are, but what I find most curious about you, is how you were made. I know that you are made out of pure magic, but even a sorcerer, such as myself, cannot create such a being like you with such a strong heart."

"Guess there's always a bigger fish."

Yen Sid actually chuckled a bit, "Indeed."

Lan set Ventus down against the wall and looked back at Yen Sid when she stood back up, "So, o-powerful sorcerer, can 'ya lift the sleeping spell casted on my buddy Ventus here?"

"Hmm… I'm sure that I can." He raised his hands and waved them around. Smoke appeared around Ventus and stars soon sprinkled around the smoke. It all dispersed away from him and he let out a small grunt as he slowly opened his eyes.

Ventus looked around, confused as to where he is now, "Where…?"

"Oh my god, Ven! You're finally awake! It's been 10 years!" Lan dramatically grabbed Ventus by the shoulders and lightly shook him.

The blonde was greatly confused but overall, very astonished, "What? Really?"

"Nah, just fuckin' with you so you can wake up quicker."

"Oh… _pssh_." Ventus smiled a bit, he admits that was a pretty clever way to shake someone awake. He stands up to look around the new environment he finds himself in. His wandering eyes stops on Yen Sid.

"Hello, Ventus."

"Oh, h-hi. Were you the one that helped me? Thank you."

"Do not thank me. Thank your friend whose heart led you here."

Lan crossed her arms, "Ah, did you hafta get all cheesy?"

Ventus smiled and leaned over to the girl, "Awww, you actually care about me."

"It's like you assholes are doing this on purpose."

The blonde laughed, he thought it was kind of funny that Lan kept holding on to her 'tough girl' attitude, despite doing soft-hearted actions.

"Now there leaves you, Mickey." Yen Sid stared down at the mouse.

Mickey visibly cringed, he was preparing for the worst. Lan looked at the mouse for a bit and then to Yen Sid, speaking before any of them do, "Hey, Mickey was just following his heart. Sure, he fucked off behind your back, but obviously he couldn't just sit here when he found out about the other worlds being in danger or some shit. Most people would just be a pussy and sit on their ass with their fingers in their ears. He did what he felt was right. Besides, nothing bad happened. If anything, if it weren't for him, Ventus would've actually slept for 10 years back there."

Mickey and Yen Sid were astonished. Mickey was shocked because he did not expect for Lan of all people to defend him, and Yen Sid was shocked because of how bold she was. It felt like she assumed everything about the situation, but she surprisingly got everything pretty accurately. He can tell that Lan and Mickey weren't really that well acquainted. Mickey's shocked face told him that Lan only knows limited information about him, but she read him like an open book.

The sorcerer spoke first, "You are most impressive. Tell me, what is your name?"

"Lan Chia."

"I see, Lan Chia… I won't forget you anytime soon."

The girl didn't reply. She just turned around, somewhat removing her presence from the scene. Yen Sid saw it to return back to Mickey and Ventus, "So, Mickey, don't take this as an opportunity to reckless."

"You got it, Master Yen Sid!"

"Lan, the star shard."

Lan took the star shard off her belt and threw it at Mickey. The mouse managed to catch it in his gloved hands. He looked over at the brunette and smiled, "You know, Lan, my impression of you wasn't so great at first. You're pretty mean with your words."

"Whatever, bein' a people pleaser sucks. Being yourself is more enjoyable. Who cares if people end up hating ya? Even Jesus had haters. They nailed him to a cross and everything."

This was the first time Mickey actually laughed at one of Lan's jokes, "But you're not a bad person. Your actions speak a lot louder than your words."


End file.
